Your Nutrition Questions Answered
March is National Nutrition Month, and our chimpanzee residents’ diets play a vital role in their health and happiness. From favorite foods to special dietary needs, you’ve had great questions about how we keep our chimps thriving. Today, Save the Chimps’ Chimpanzee Care Manager, Sarah Poirier, is here to share her answers to your questions.
Your support helps provide nutritious meals for the chimpanzees in our care.
Q. When the chimps at your sanctuary eat “mixed nuts”, do they use any tools to open them or do they just use their teeth?
A. We have not witnessed any of the chimpanzees at Save the Chimps using a tool to open nuts, although they’ve used tools for other enrichments. Using their teeth to open nuts is their preferred method!
Q. Are chimps vegetarians? It seems all of their favorite foods at the sanctuary are some kind of fruit, veggie, or nut.
A. Chimpanzees are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. In the wild, the majority of their diet consists of fruits, nuts, leaves, seeds, and insects. Our chimpanzee residents are given a vegetarian-based diet of fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, seeds, chow biscuits, and more. They do not receive any meat-based products.
Q. What foods are the chimps’ favorites? Are there any fruits or vegetables they won’t eat?
A. Each of our chimpanzee residents have different favorite foods, just like us! However, there are foods that are generally considered overall favorites, such as bananas, melons, pineapple, mango, and avocado. Squash has remained on the least favorite list. Our elderly chimps usually love the greens, such as lettuce, kale, bok choy, and more. And of course, we always have an oddball who would do anything for an onion!
Your support helps provide nutritious meals for the chimpanzees in our care.